Shop Gotham NYC shopping tours is offering a 50% discount! off the May 4th Garment Center “Insider” Shopping Tour (for women). Tickets are VERY limited. If you have ever been curious about those wholesale showrooms and hot designer sample sales, here is the perfect opportunity to save big on your new spring clothes and accessories as well as the tour!

To book.

http://www.shopgotham.com/daily-new-york-shopping-tours.php

code: May4

www.shopgotham.com

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NYC loves this season for a lot of reasons:  the cherry trees blooming at Central Park, the sidewalk cafes re-appearing on the streets, the opportunity to wear peep-toed shoes!  But for those who consider shopping a way of life, spring also means SAMPLE SALES!!

April and May feature some of the best sample sales from some of the hottest designers.  Take a Garment Center Insider Tour to get to some of the following sales.   BUT the highlight of the tour will be going behind the scenes and into  some of New York’s top private designer showrooms.   Sign up today!

April 25-30 Fred Perry

April 27-29 Vivienne Tam

April 27-29 Aeffe USA

April 28-30 Paul Smith

May 3-5 Furla

May 9-27 Charlotte Ronson, Odd Molly, Bloch

May 10-12 Rachel Roy/Pink Tartan

May 18-22 Theory

Also coming this spring:  Tory Burch, J. Crew, Lewis Cho and more!  Stay tuned…

Going once, going twice.. Shop Gotham’s  weekly NYC  Shopping Tour deal is the March 9, 2011 Garment Center “Insider” Shopping Tour. 10am- 1pm. Hurry, as thats it for this week! Save on the tour, save on your duds! Fashion shopping in NYC. what could be more fun and fab? Code: March9

www.shopgotham.com

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While shoppers take a break for the beach in late august and the fashion gurus are up to their noses in the grey and black Fall palettes, we at Shop Gotham are preparing for our Fall shopping tours. There are an abundance of new Garment Center “insider” designer showroom partners, offering bags, belts, outerwear and both casual and dressier apparel. Wholesale is the only way to shop and one can only do this special activity on the Garment Center “Insider” shopping tour. Every Wed and Fri @ 10am. for more information, www.shopgotham.com

August 18 and Augu 20th are the last days of Shop Gotham’s Garment Center “Insider” tour until Sept. Showrooms are loaded with early fall. Coming to NYC this week, this is could be the best shopping you will find. www.shopgotham.com

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Goodness knows, there are seemingly infinite sites these days to buy fashion. Once in a while a different twist on shopping does pop up that’s worthy of note. Today it is Chic Tiq. www.chictiq.com.

Chic Tiq provides the name of every fashion boutique in NYC by neighborhood. Keeping this information current is not an easy feat.  Its’ interactive map allows the visitor to point to any respective neighborhood to see what to find there: store addresses and web links are included. What we find most appealing is the store Sale info noted on the left side of the page.

So for our Shop Gotham guests.. here is a recommended approach for your precious shopping time in NYC. Day I. Take one of our “insider” tours and reap the benefits of special deals and a guide to hold your hand. www.shopgotham.com

Day II. Pick a neighborhood to explore independently with the help of Chic Tiq. www.Chitiq.com 

After all, there is no better shopping in the world than in NYC!

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April marks the time spring sample sales commence – just in time for your own wardrobe fix.  Shop Gotham will take you to the very best of the day but more importantly, to our own private partner showrooms, for wholesale shopping no one else can access! www.shopgotham.com to see our schedule of Garment Center tours

We who have our finger on the proverbial pulse of nyc sample sales see that the “season” is starting a good 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Waiting to come to NYC to score your fall/winter items. Don’t delay. The goods are here and they are already discounted.  Note for the unaffiliated: Designers each do but one sale per season ranging from  1- 5 days.

 Remember.. Shop Gotham vets out the good sales from the mediocre. Check out our Garment Center “Insider” Shopping Tours and our holiday time Cheap and Chic shopping tours. www.shopgotham.com

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We like to give a heads-up about the Sample Sale “high” season. Typically, it commences mid-november, but our recession radar claims we can expect an early onslaught.    By early november, the designer for much less options will make your head swirl. As always, Shop Gotham will vet out the worthwhile from the junk-

See Shop Gotham Garment Center “insider” tours.

www.shopgotham.com

Subscribe to Shop Gotham New York Shopping News:(1 issue per month) and we will send you our semi-annual NYC Resource List of the best fashion odds & ends (such as the VERY best stores for bras, special size shoes, plus size fashion) –www.shopgotham.com)

WHAT EXACTLY IS A SAMPLE SALE? Once upon a time, Sample Sales were the place to buy one-of-a kind items created by a designer for the purpose of selling his/her line each season to retailers. Some items never even went to production, making them oh-so-coveted. Typically these sample items were size 4-8, depending on what the designer determined as his/her “model” size.

Today (circa 2009) Sample Sales are synomous with OVERSTOCK – the goods left over after all the stores have made their purchases.  Which means that real people can shop these sales too, as ALL the sizes a designer produces can typically be found. Often, but not always, there are also those coveted sample pieces which were never produced (and sometimes past seasons’ items as well). Expect savings of 50-70% below retail.

WHY CAN WE BUY ITEMS “In Season” WHEN THEY ARE STILL IN THE STORES? The fashion industry sells their items 2 seasons ahead to the retailers.  When spring arrives (for instance) and you are ready to buy your wardrobe,  designers are busy selling their goods to the stores for the Fall.  Hence, if they have overstock, there is nowhere for it to go except to off-price stores, outlets and into the consumer’s hands directly via Sample Sales.  Although Sample Sales have become more and more abundant in recent years,(they are especially good in a failing economy) they are still frequented primarily by those who live and work in their respective areas, not the masses of shoppers. This is why the stores selling the same items at full price do not publicly object to their existence.

WHAT TO EXPECT? Some sample sales are truly amazing: abundant stock, well organized, ample dressing rooms and huge discounts. Some have none of these good qualities. Some will be designers with great name recognition and cache (in NYC this week one can find Tory Burch, Diane Von Furstenberg and Lauren Moffet). Some for lesser known names, but for those” in-the-know”, these can offer the most unique and valuable finds.  These days, one can patch together a list online of  many sample sales (but certainly not all) .  But how does one vet out which sales are worthwhile? How to know if the sale restocks every day or if everything “good” will be gone after the 1st day.  What if you don’t know your way around NYC and its plethora of neighborhoods? This folks is one of the many reasons to take one of Shop Gotham’s shopping tours (forgive the blatant self-promotion). You are paying for our knowledge as well as an awfully good time.

check out: www. shopgotham.com to see what’s doing in the New York City shopping scene